Just Like Last Time (Hunter)

Like almost every night, Phin was hungry again. And once again, he was thankful that his common room was close to the Kitchens. Like literally right next to it. So, it didn't take much effort to get from his bed, to the kitchens. He thanked Helga Hufflepuff for placing the common room in it's place (if she had any say.) She probably thought that all the Hufflepuff's would get hungry in the night, so they would want to have a little party in the kitchens.

He did however, feel bad about the other common rooms. The Gryffindor common room was sooo far away, one had to climb many stairs to get to it. And don't even talk about the Ravenclaw one. What if the person wanting to get food, goes back and can't answer the question right (he had heard rumors). So, there was a plus side to being in Hufflepuff, no matter how much he wanted to be in Gryffindor. He tickled the pear on the painting, and entered in he kitchen. The house elves immediately came to his aid and asked him what he wanted. And what he wanted was an egg salad sand which. It was weird, but it reminded him of the good times he had spent at home.

His mum would make them all egg salad sand whiches, and they would sit outside and eat them, and pretend everything was ok, but that moment would be ruined when his father got home. He smiled thinking abut his mum. Yes, he missed her, but...It was for the best living with his Uncle Chad. If his father couldn't accept him, and his mother wouldn't stand up for him, then... That was how it had to be. He was just about to take the first bite, when the portrait opened. He sighed when he saw who it was. Not again...

All Hunter wanted to do was have a sandwich and some pumpkin pasties and then sneak quickly into the potions storeroom to take a few more ingredients while he was sure nobody would be around to see him. But unfortunately, when he stepped into the kitchens to do just that, he found that it, once again, wasn't deserted. Honestly, did he have to run into Phineas Button every time he wanted a midnight snack?

With a sigh, he made his way into the kitchen and was instantly swarmed by house elves. He told them what he wanted and made his way to his usual seat. For a moment, Hunter considered just taking his food with him and slipping out as quickly as he'd entered. But he had to stop for his ingredients, and if he left before Phin he risked the chance that the second year could follow him and see what he was up to.

So he had to stay. Which meant he would have to be civil to Phin - or be extra mean to him in hopes that he would scram. But Hunter had a feeling the latter plan wouldn't work, so he went ahead with the first one and nodded to the kid as he sat down. "Alright?" he said casually, not really sure what else to say to a random kid who was really annoying and had tried to attack you in the past, but was actually sort of alright sometimes? "Did you make up with Aoife?" he questioned, not having anything else relevant to ask. With any luck, Phin would be finishing up soon and Hunter wouldn't be put through this torture for too long.

He wanted to know of his relationship status to his best friend? Odd. Though he guessed, odd was the wrong word. The last time Hunter had seen them, they had been fighting, and it had not ended well on his part. Phin shrugged and said, "yeah. We are good. Back to being best friends and all."

Though he was glad to have her back in his life, he was still a tad disappointed things hadn't gone his way. Things hadn't seemed to go his way recently. He didn't really know what to say next. This wasn't exactly the person one had a civilized conversation with. Even though he was Aoife's FRIEND, and not BEST FRIEND, as he took that roll in her life.

He, however, was curious about their relationship status. He wanted what was best for her, and he was afraid that was Hunter. He asked, "and what about you and Aoife?"

He didn't want to seem to interested. After all, he did hate the bloke.

This wasn't exactly Hunter's idea of fun. Thankfully, his food turned up pretty quick, so he had something to distract himself with while he waited Phin out. He considered just coming back for the ingredients another night, but that would be a waste of a late night trip to the dungeons - well, partly a waste. This sandwich was pretty good, actually. Probably because it had bacon on it.

"I figured she'd come around," Hunter said through a mouthful of food, not bothering to put his sandwich down to talk. Maybe when he was done, he'd ask for another one. "I'm guessing you've wised up and stopped trying to make her like you, then?" Hopefully, the kid had realized it was a huge waste of time, wanting anything like that from Aoife. Then, just to point out that Hunter had been better best friends with Aoife than Phin, when he and Aoife were best friends, he added casually, "Did she make you a best friend contract?" For whatever reason, Hunter still had his. Still. There was no reason for him to keep it now. But it still sat in his drawer, untouched. Throwing it away felt wrong.

He laughed lightly when Phin asked about his relationship with Aoife. "We're... something," he replied with a shrug. "Don't really know what. Depends on the day, how hard I'm trying to piss her off, and if Seren's around or not." That didn't really answer the kid's question though, did it? "We're okay, I guess," he said finally.

Phin wanted to yell at him. They needed to be MORE than ok if his plan on getting them together was going to work. Yeah, he liked her at first, but she was miserable now with him being with Seren. She wouldn't admit it, but with him as the best friend, it was his job to realize these things, and help her to be truly happy.

He asked about a contract thing. He replied, "No, no contract, but I guess she trusts me enough to not have one because you would break the rules, and I wouldn't."

That might piss him off, but it was the truth. When he said they were alright as friends, he knew it was time to set his plan, what ever it maybe, in motion. He was going to get them together whether they liked it or not. He just wanted her to be happy. And he hated to admit, that the only way she could be happy was to be with Hunter. The only thing that truly pained him was the fact that he couldn't stand him.

So what would be come of Phin and Aoife if they happened? He was scared to find out.

Hunter raised an eyebrow as Phin explained why he didn't need a contract. "Is that right?" he responded, slightly amused. "Well, first of all, there weren't any rules. I don't think either of us would follow them if there were, Aoife included." Though, Hunter was pretty sure that he'd broken a huge rule the day he asked her out - not that he was aware that it was a rule at the time. But it had ended their friendship temporarily and their best-friendship for good. Was that a word? Probably not. Maybe Hunter would have to ask Derek the Dictionary when he saw him again.

As soon as Hunter finished his sandwich, he asked a nearby house elf for more food. "Do you have any cake?" he asked. Of course they did. They had everything, and if not they could whip it up in no time at all. But thankfully, it was already made and it only took a second for the cake to be placed in front of him. "Thank you!" he exclaimed, already shoving a huge bite into his mouth. "If you haven't tried their cake, you should," Hunter told Phin, grinning.

"Only not right now," he added, because he wanted Phin to leave so that he could do what he could get his ingredients and go back to the common room.

Phin laughed a little bit. He was right, nobody would follow the rules even if there were some. Then the kid asked for cake. Why didn't he think of cake? Here he was eating an egg salad sand which that reminded him of the place he didn't want to be reminded of. Speaking of which...

Phin then remembered one little detail. He didn't like the kid at all, but he had told him his deepest darkest secret, and had told him NOT to tell anybody. The worst part, he told the one person Phin didn't want to know. It was ok now, but still. Isn't there some sort of bro-code they should follow? Well, they aren't exactly "bro's" but... it was confusing.

Phin said, "You told her though. You told her something that was completely private. I shouldn't of trusted you with that information. I know I shouldn't of said anything in the first place, and things are good now, but you still shouldn't of told her."

He was fed up with him. Phin didn't understand why Aoife was friends with him in the first place. He was mean, and didn't keep secrets at all. Why was he trying to set them up again? In that moment he couldn't remember.

He was just so mad, he felt like attacking him again, but regained his composure to see what he had to say. THEN he would attack if his reason wasn't good enough.

Hunter looked over at Phin when he started talking again. Oh. Hunter had almost forgot about that whole thing. Well, he hadn't forgotten about Phin's home life, but he'd pretty much dismissed the whole incident of him informing Aoife about it. Hunter took advantage of the huge bite of cake in his mouth and chewed slowly, trying to decide just how angry Phin was. He could be moderately angry or try-to-attack-again angry. And the little git wouldn't get away with attacking Hunter again.

"First of all, if it was private I was hardly the person to tell it to," Hunter said evenly, swallowing his cake. "If we were friends, I wouldn't have told anyone. But we aren't, and I don't know how I could have helped. It's hardly my business." Honestly, it was Phin's fault for bringing it up in the first place. "It could have been worse. I could have told a teacher - you know, the whole "if you know somebody is in trouble, tell an adult" kind of thing? But lucky for you, I've never done what I'm supposed to do."

Not in a rush to continue, Hunter took another bite of cake before going on. "Besides, I figured Aoife ought to know why you hit her back. She deserved the explanation, and she'll never admit it, but she wouldn't have been happy if she never talked to you again. She just does things without thinking and then she's too proud to fix them." Hunter knew that firsthand. And he knew that he and Aoife were alike in that way. But this wasn't about him, so it was much easier for him to see the easiest way to fix it.

Phin started to get angry. HE was the one who told her his deepest darkest secret, and he was making it look like his fault. It wasn't his fault he had a big mouth. So, just to piss him off, he suddenly wanted a piece of cake. He called over the nearest house elf and said, "I would like what ever kind of cake he got please." And just like that, he was handed the same cake.

Phin replied, "Yeah, and if you would've given me the chance to tell her, I would've. I just needed to cool down a little bit." He was suddenly angrier. Not attack him angrier, but so angry, he took his fist and smashed the cake with it. Yes, he could've told a teacher, but he didn't have to tell him that. He said, "Things are better now. I don't live at home anymore. So you just keep your mouth shut, you hear?" This wasn't the time to act Hufflepuff. He was letting his Gryffindor colors show.

Hunter finished off his cake just as Phin decided to order some. At least the kid had one priority right - cake was very important. Hunter thought about ordering another piece, but decided to refrain for the moment because he couldn't decide if he'd rather have a pumpkin pasty. Then, Phin was pointing out that he would've told Aoife eventually. "That wasn't what it seemed like at the time," Hunter pointed out, shrugging. Phin was the one who had said that he didn't want anyone to know. Anyone included Aoife, didn't it?

Hunter's thoughts were interrupted by Phin, who had all of a sudden decided to slam his fist down onto his cake! "What the hell is wrong with you?" Hunter exclaimed, raising an eyebrow at the kid. "That was a perfectly good piece of cake an you just ruined it! And do you want to hurt the house elves' feelings? They'll think you didn't like it." Stupid kid. Hunter wasn't sure he'd ever met someone so stupid before Phin. And honestly, he wasn't sure he could stay here any longer - he'd just risk the possibility of being followed, go get his ingredients, and go back to the common room.

"I'm not going to say anything to anyone else," Hunter informed him, getting up from the table and heading for the door. "And I meant it, that cake was amazing - you might want to ask for another piece!" he called over his shoulder. And then he found his way out of the kitchen, and took off in the direction of the dungeons.